Facing journalism’s new frontier
UCLA, 1995.
We live, work and study in a world of contradictions, conflicts
and confusion.
"Campus unity" was a rallying cry in undergraduate student
elections last spring. Yet few would dispute the fact that there is
a serious lack of community connectedness here at UCLA. This is a
problem not only at UCLA, but in the larger society as well.
Today, in the outside community and also on campus, people’s
feelings of detachment are extending into the realm of their local
newspapers, which are increasingly playing a less influential role.
Readerships are dropping off, in the larger community as well as at
the Daily Bruin. While newspapers could play a role in facilitating
dialogue, the relationship between readers and their publications
must be redefined before this can happen.
Within this culture, journalists are presented with several
dilemmas: how can we reconnect with the community? How can a
newspaper give readers information, as well as a deeper sense of
identity and membership in a community? How can it improve the
quality of public conversation in the community, not just on the
editorial page?
Here at The Bruin, one of our first steps toward finding
solutions to these dilemmas is "The American Identity," a town hall
meeting about identity, ethnicity, culture and class in the campus
environment. Two days from now, "The American Identity" will take
shape as a community discussion about the changing nature of
individual and collective identities in a multicultural
society.
As part of The Bruin’s aim for more involvement in the
community, and as an example of what we see as the newspaper’s
changing role in society, the town hall meeting is a first attempt
to bring the campus together  interactively  to find
solutions to the many challenges facing our generation.
We won’t define the issues or set the agenda  that’s up to
you.
Dealing with important issues in a moderated format is a method
for The Bruin to learn more about the readership it serves. As
students, we realize the need for a moderated dialogue designed to
promote interaction.
Programming isn’t the primary means to an end toward the goal of
newspaper-facilitated community connectedness, however. As a campus
newspaper, our community involvement doesn’t  and shouldn’t
 end with this first town hall meeting, just as our
involvement in facilitating dialogue shouldn’t end on the pages of
Viewpoint.
It’s a start, however. One of a newspaper’s purposes is to
increase democracy and public discourse. When the newspaper serves
as a strong a forum for dialogue, readers respond more to coverage,
vocalize their frustrations with community issues and lay down a
framework for a new, more vital public (and campus) life. Through
this town hall meeting, The Bruin aims to facilitate a forum to
come up with solutions to some of the challenges we face today.
Please come be a part of the town hall meeting at Moore 100 on
Wednesday at 7 p.m. Take a first step toward bringing the UCLA
community of 1995 together.